Stop playing music and be alone with your thoughts
We are overloading our brains with music and content
Photo courtesy of Bryan Catota/Pexels
We now have the option to listen to music constantly nowadays. Many people are doing just that, but is that really a good thing?
The inspiration for this article came from a long walk around campus in which I saw almost every single person in passing wearing a pair of headphones. This in itself is not harmful, but it made me wonder: when we are not listening to music, talking to people, or watching some sort of media content in our free time?
I first had this realization a few semesters ago on a walk around town. I was listening to a podcast that mentioned something about being alone with your thoughts at least once a day. At first I brushed it off. But then I realized that I could not pinpoint a moment in each day where I was not physically doing anything and could just think to myself.
For me this turned into a routine where I journal each day, with no music or television playing in the background, and just take some time to think about my day or the things happening in my life. I also make it a point to walk around a couple times a week without listening to music or a podcast.
This may not look the same for everyone, but I believe that it is extremely important to step away from electronics at least once a day and take a break. Especially in times like these, where social media is full of violence, politics, and overall negative images, taking a step back can have a positive impact on one's mental health.
Listening to music is not in itself harmful, but it has become a common thing for many to have an AirPod or similar device in their ear all day long, including during meals, classes, conversations with friends, and other daily activities. It is far too much!
First of all, what are you even listening to for that many hours a day? It takes me days to craft a perfect playlist and I get sick of it in less than a month. Are they listening to music they do not even enjoy, or maybe even putting entire albums on shuffle? How can you appreciate a good song or good album when you are spending 15 hours a day with music constantly streaming directly into your brain?
Secondly, listening to music while people are talking to you can be incredibly rude. If you happen to run into a friend unexpectedly and you turn down your music to listen to them, that is okay! It is not expected for someone to completely rip off their headphones when someone starts talking to them. But if you go about your day and initiate conversations with headphones in and continue to go on car rides and sit in restaurants with headphones on, it is rude. If you can’t hear the other person and are constantly asking them to repeat what they said, have some decency and respect when someone else is taking the time out of their day to listen to you by listening to them too.
Finally, this intense stream of music constantly in your ear may be preventing you from other things in life like self-reflection. As someone who listens to music while doing homework, multi-tasking is possible, but it should not be done all of the time. Taking even 30 minutes away from those headphones and thinking about what went well throughout your day can improve your attitude and help you have better days in the future!